ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar joins us live from the end of the line in contra costa county. tom? >> reporter: indeed. because bart ends right here for right now. and the freeway narrows from 4 lanes down to 2, this is one of the worst commutes in america. >> reporter: a billion dollars of road widening will revolutionize commuting. the clog, one of the nation's worst commutes should abate by 2015. >> new four lane in each direction, and a media that is prepared for bart out to hill crast. they will save 20 -- hillcrest. they will save 20 minutes. >> reporter: by 2017 bart's extension will haul passengers another 12 miles. >> it will help improve air quality, mobility. >> reporter: folks will get off bart here, walk 30 feet across the flat form and pick up right here to antioch. maybe to brentwood someday. >> improve the quality of people's lives, let them get home sooner, reduce the stress. >> reporter: this project from the bay bridge, tunnels, come online, improvments will be dramat -- improvements will be dramatic. >> here we are 75 years later, we need to reinvest in tran

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar joins us live with how price matching could give that store an advantage. tom? >> reporter: indeed. because of these, smartphones and an experiment, it grivs best buy -- gives best buy its best chance to survive. >> reporter: they can no longer tolerate show rooming. >> they use stores as show rooms. >> reporter: shoppers admit to it. >> i do the same thing for certain items. i will check it out, if i want to buy it, i will go on the internet and get a better price. >> reporter: march 3 best buy will match all local competitors as well as 19 of the biggest online retailers such as amazon. >> i am sure they don't want to do it but they have to do it. >> people actually prefer shopping online. >> they might go out of business because people buy online where they have free delivery, great return policies and excellent prices. >> reporter: though price remains the key, they have something the internet has yet to match, take it home right now. >> if i am looking looking for incident gratification that would work. >> reporter: local retailers hire locally. >> it

ktvu's tonvler is -- consumer editor tom vacar is live with more. >> reporter: if congress doesn't act by next week these terminals could be loaded with stranded ships or they could be in a situation where there are no ships at all. either way, we lose. >> reporter: it takes a lot of customs agents to inspect every container before they could be picked up. the reason is to prevent a terrorist nuclear bomb. >> it would have serious consequences to the flow of trade and travel. we will have to begin to furlough officers who staff the ports. >> that would have a impact on clearing cargo. >> when you slow down the inspection of containers, that translates to lots and lots of jobs. good paying jobs. >> that is a big problem for the port. >> reporter: any delay, even for a few hours is serious, let alone 5 days. >> it is a shocker. like closing highway 80. if customs is not there, that is it, we are shut down. we get stopped. >> right now we are preparing for easter. if that cargo ship is delayed and it gets on a week after easter that is not good. they lost all their money. >> i am not here

tom vacar arrived on the scene 30 minutes ago. >> reporter: this is a serious situation. about 12:30 there were people involved in a shooting near broadway and mcarthur not far from here. they fled the scene. because of community help a lot of people were telling them who these people were and where they were and they ended up just down the street here. the situation is at about 3:00 because these people would not come out. they detained a few other people to check out. they believe there are several people holed up in this particular building and s.w.a.t. is here. they are trying to negotiate with these people. they're trying to figure out exactly how many there are. a what they're trying to do is end this thing peacefully. with these people held up and involved in shooting, that's a tall order. the situation is basically your standoff right now. police continue to try to negotiate. the reality of the situation is until the people inside decide to come outside, we will be in a standoff. so we will be here inside the evening letting you know what's going on. reporting liv

and tom vacar spent the day in the tunnels so you can see where you will soon be driving. >> reporter: the project will come in under its budget, all of which came from federal funds. >> we're looking at opening it up shortly. woe don't have a definite date yet. >> reporter: it's an engineering wonder as well as a beautifully designed work of art. it's designed to withstand the largest expected earthquake. plus a sophisticated carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide system that immediately activates fans. pus plus a state-of-the-art fire suppression system and message signs in both tunnels. many tunnel side call boxes as well. get this. >> question override your car radio no matter what station. it can automatically override it and give you instructions in case of an emergency. >> reporter: all of this being tweaked right now. >> the structure itself is finished. hooking up the systems and making sure they're operating properly, that's a time consuming project. >> reporter: this serves a greater purpose. remember, this is on highway 1. and highway 1 is one of the most important tourist rou

for the answer we go to the news room and consumer editor tom vacar. >> reporter: yes indeed. the good news most of the forms the overwhelming majority of us use are ready to go. we confirmed that today with walnut creek cpa leslie dawson. >> we received notice yesterday from our tax processing program that a number of the forms were no longer on draft, in draft form so we could finally start processing the returns with an assurance that he they would go through not be rejected and not require army. >> most people can expect refund within 21 days and people get it less than that and they can continue to do so. >> reporter: feel free to check on your refund but only do it once a day. >> right now we're inundated on the phones. this is our busy effort time after the president's day holiday. the best time to check is late in the day or late in the week. >> reporter: you can also check online at irs.gov. check only once a day or the system will also easily become overwhelmed. i'm consumer editor tom vacar ktvu channel 2 news. >>> test la motor shares fell more than 2% after hours

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live with key questions that need to be answered before the partygiven the green light. tom? >> reporter: skies may be clear, there is a dark cloud growing over the opening party way up there. >> reporter: money is needed to allow 200,000 people on the bridge before it opens. they have been empowered to raise funds for the gala. >> we need a place where private parties can contribute because we are a public entity. >> reporter: if they raise more than needed who gets that money? >> i am not hearing that it is part of the plan or effort to off set some of these public sector costs with sponsorship revenue. >> reporter: they picked opmajor responser without putting it up for bidding. >> i would like that addressed. >> they will vote next week. >> it is a fair question and we will have it answered. >> reporter: he finds himself in the conflicted position of being on the toll authority board and the non-profit. >> we have established a robust fundraising plan. we brought people on board that are familiar with working with major corporations. >> reporter

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar joins us live with who is paying for what, tom. >> reporter: it is goingke $5.5 million of toll payer money for a stroll up there at summer's end. >> reporter: in 1987 when the they expected 50,000, 800,000 showed up. come labor day pedestrians will be able to get up on the new span for a 2 hour 5-mile oakland to san francisco walk returning by bart. budget $5.5 million. >> buses, barricades, bath rooms and bodies. private security. emt. volunteers needed. >> reporter: 15,000 people per hour, 200,000 in all will allow walkers a safe environment. >> it will be a timed access event. and they will have to register online. >> reporter: public opinions vary. >> i would like to get up there. i would go. >> yes, i agree with that. >> reporter: why? >> exactly for the same thing, you know, good to see what is being done. >> way too much money. there is other areas we need to spend our money on. >> reporter: other events like a cycle crossing, foot races and a fire works spectacular, they are another matter. >> that is within the private sector. and public funds wo

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live in san francisco with details and also the controversy. tom? >> reporter: yeah. it will cost a lot of this. in fact this program is centered in san francisco, and next year every pg&e customer will pay more if the plan is amoved. >> reporter: the $1.2 billion plan was shaped by pg&e and the mayor's staff to maximize the needs for reliability, safety, growth and emergency response. adding new and relocating some existing power lines. upgrading major substations, replacing street lamps and many miles of natural gas pipelines. >> this will be a model of how government and the private sector can partner together to identify needs and have a plan. >> reporter: that anticipates a lot of career training. the unions and san francisco's job training programs. >> there will be jobs created during the 5 year period. there will be infrastructure investment that will go on for decades in san francisco and around california. >> the cost $5 more a month for the next 5 years but they say they don't trust pg&e. >> how do we make sure promises made are promi

consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> republicans blocked a vote to confirm chuck hagelu.s. defense secretary. the vote broke down along party lines. chuck hagel fell short of the 60 votes needed to clear the way for final consideration. democrats are vowing to hold another vote when the senate returns next week. >>> not quite what they expected. a raid on a farm after a report of a meth lab, what agents fount and brought back -- found and brought back with them. >>> warren buffset pouring fun buffet is poring money into the catch up business to buy the hines company. the deal will make them a privately held company, taking it off the stock markets. he said the maker will keep its headquarters in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. >>> on wall street today, mixed reaction to job numbers set again economic troubles in europe and japan. the dow is down 9 to 13,973., the nasdaq is up 1 at 3,198. the s&p is up 1 at 1,521. >>> drug agents raided a home in illinois this week looking into reports of a meth lab and let's say they were not expecting what they found. authorities say neighbo

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live to show us how they appear to be going strong. >> reporter:eed. since it is in the small haul, like a phoenix, they keep rising from the ashes, can it continue to fly? >> reporter: they have grown to 300 exhibitors, double two years ago, expected attendance is down 15%. no longer about macs. about what going in and on apple devices. hundreds of small firms. >> like a forest fire. comes through and after the fire all of these new enterprises sprout up. >> app that teaches children about making the earth greener and when they reach a new level it does just that. >> use the points to plant trees. >> reporter: this teachads language skill -- teaches a language skill. this programmer wants an app. >> can learn to write apps that will sell in the app store. the first thing is getting people to accept the fact they can. >> by adding a high power wifi device you can increase your speed. >> reporter: opinions vary. >> with the way technology is moving -- >> they will have a phone and tablets. i see it will grow. >> reporter: and mac world continues its

our consumer editor tom vacar is live on treasure island with what he has learned and the work that has now been temporarily stopped. tom-- >> reporter: well frank, i want you to take a look because this is something we did not know yesterday. when that steel and crane collapsed, the bridge did not escape unscathed. what we didn't know yesterday was that when the steel and crane collapsed the bridge did not escape unscathed. >> there was some cosmetic damage, there was no damage to the integrity of the bridge. >> reporter: investigators are studying the collapsed steel. >> the various parties that will be part of the investigation will be looking at both the crane and the piece of scaffolding that was involved in this incident as part of their ongoingen investigation. >> reporter: by midday, the crane destroyed was also being barged to pier seven as well. >> the steel truss underneath will be inspected. >> reporter: the work will be delayed by at least 30 days. meaning when the bridge opens a lot of it will still be in place. >> construction of the east span is continuing as planned and

americas cup will soon become the world's newest international cruise ina ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is here to show us the glamour and also the serious challenges. tom. >> reporter: it was officially dedicated today. we want to give you your very first look inside. the two terminal will host a second century of passenger ships here. the first of which came here 101 years ago. the new san francisco cruise terminal and the two plus acre park that will surround it will be a jewel of the bay. >> it has gone worldwide that we have built it here in san francisco. >> the cruise industry keeps growing. >> and so many thousands of people will disembark here and go into the city, spend gobs of money. >> how important is it? one major cruise line has already committed to port one of its ships here all yearlong. because the ship will dock here once every four days, this will be amulet purpose facility. >> 75 of the time it will be enjoyed with 60,000 ware feet with other events. it will be very -- square feet. it will be very exciting. >> it will got only attract cruises from around the nation,

tom vacar, ktvu news. >>> buster posey is getting a huge pay raise.e steepest pay increase today among major league players who opted for salary arbitration this year. the mvp received a 13 fold pay hike to $8 million. he earned $575,000 last year. posey batted 336. he hit 34 home runs all during the giant's 2013 world series championship season. >>> everyone is talking about the bay area snow in just two minutes we'll go back live to our bay area peaks to see just how much snow is sticking to the ground. and we'll check with bill martin to see if any more is on the way. >> new at 6:00, he was just walking down the street when he was gunned down for no reason. the impact this grocery store checker is leaving behind tonight.

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> again we want to show you more live pictures, we'll show you those in a moment. but on our website we have put together a slide show of this afternoon's crane collapse as well as unedited video from news chopper 2. you can view it by going to ktvu.com. >>> right now authorities are on the look out for a shooter that opened fire on a massaroti. we have learned one of the victims is from here in the bay area. eric rasmussen live in the newsroom after speaking with that man's father. >> reporter: just earlier this afternoon we confirmed the driver of the massoroti is from oakland. we want to a picture of ken cherry jr., who used to go as ken clutch. i spoke to his father, still in shock over what happened early this morning. >> reporter: the fiery end to this fiery accident. >> reporter: this is how the shooting at the heart of las vegas ended. after 4:00 a.m. someone in a black range rover opened fire on the driver of this dark gray massoroti sending it crashing into a taxi cab which burst into flames killing the driver and passenger inside. >> i ran o

tom vacar talks to us about a school where teacher's pensions were hard hit. >> reporter: it all boils down can you trust to business analysts who once say trust them. and when it went back they say it was just free speech opinion. the near total failure of mortgage back securities a few years ago led to the worse recession since the great depression. pension plans left billions much of which had to be made good by uncle sam. >> today we have identified more than $5 billion in such losses results from cdos that were rated by s & p between march and october 2007. >> california says state pension plans lost almost a billion dollars on pension plans flawed systems itself. >> s & p was very invested in the outcome. >> reporter: former golden gate analyst says s & p's best defense are free speech opinions they were legally required opinions. >> in order to bring these issues you had to have a rating. >> reporter: there's a huge conflict on how raters make their money. >> they weren't going to get paid unless they rated these things in a way that assured their marketability. >> reporter: bus

we were the first to show you the accident right after it happened and consumer editor tom vacar was the first reporter on the scene. he joins us now from treasure island with the role that crane played in the bay bridge construction project, tom -- >> reporter: first thing we want to do is go the video we shot here within the last hour or so. what you're seeing is because there was no one hurt or injured or killed the people that were actually responsible for clearing this up were able to get right into it. and to immediately start cutting up the metal which was already sitting on the barge making fairly quick work of it. as a result a lot of work has already been done in fact, a lot of the falling metal has already been hauled away. but plenty of metal still hangs over head. this is what chopper 2 saw shortly after the incident took place around noon. these dark rust colored supports were used to support the bridge roadway before the cable picked up all that weight. >> the crane was assisting with removal of some of the false work, the temporary supports underneath the bridge and it

tom vacar, back to you. >>> olympic sprinter oscar pistorius sobbed in court today for the murder of his girlfriend. relatives of the victim were are among those in a packed courtroom. in the statement he said he disputed the murder charge in the strongest term. a bail hearing is expected next week. >>> there is giant sized excitement circling arizona right now. why this weekend is the start of what is hoped to be an exciting spring for bay area baseball fans. and the warm weather streak is coming to an end. mark tamayo will let us know about rain that is on the way well, well, well. growing up, we didn't have u-verse. we couldn't record four shows at the same time. in my day, you were lucky if you could record two shows. and if mom was recording her dumb show and dad was recording his dumb show then, by george, that's all we watched. and we liked it! today's kids got it so good. [ male announcer ] get u-verse tv for just $19 a month for 1 year when you bundle tv and internet. rethink possible. >>> excitement in building in arizona as players and fans begin to arrive for spring train

coming up at 0:00 and 6:00, tom vacar will have more on this story. brian flores, back to you. >>> well, it's shaping up to be another beautiful day. a lot of sunshine out there. you may have noticed a few high clouds moving into the region, about two, three hours ago. here's our live camera looking outside. you can see all of the sunshine. temperatures on track to reach the mid- to upper 60s. maybe a little bit, a touch cooler than yesterday's highs. right now in the satellite, clear skies up above but some clouds and even some rain showers approaching the north coast out towards eureka, not there just yet but they could be picking up more cloud cover as we head into the afternoon hours. our temperatures have been warming up steadily after the cool start. already in the 60s out towards antioch and livermore. santa rosa, 62. downtown san francisco in the upper 50s at 58. for today, a few high clouds. we'll warm things up for thursday and friday. friday will be the warmest day of the week. saturday and sunday will be cooler. between now and then, high

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> a leak in the washington state nuclear waste site is now bigger thanriginally thought. we've learned six tanks are leaking. washington's governor says there's no immediate risk to public health. he also added that the tanks cannot be fixed so the highly toxic content must be removed. the site used to play a major role in the country's plutonian production. >>> crews this morning lowered a wireless robot into a transmission line on cala place and jane way. that robot was created by pipe tells solution. it has a camera attached to allow crews to inspect the condition of the pipes without turning off service. >>> food truck vendors recently removed from the uc berkeley campus are now taking action. berkeley says the city is not obligated to find the trucks alternative locations or compensate them for their losses. >>> in the south bay, environmentalists made the pitch to ban polystylene which is used to make styrofoams. activists opened up a storm drain. a restaurant group claims that the change would be costly to small business. >>> >>> you have to take

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> a leak in the washington state nuclear waste site is now bigger thanlly thought. we've learned six tanks are leaking. washington's governor says there's no immediate risk to public health. he also added that the tanks cannot be fixed so the highly toxic content must be removed. the site used to play a major role in the country's plutonian production. >>> crews this morning lowered a wireless robot into a transmission line on cala place and jane way. that robot was created by pipe tells solution. it has a camera attached to allow crews to inspect the condition of the pipes without turning off service. >>> food truck vendors recently removed from the uc berkeley campus are now taking action. berkeley says the city is not obligated to find the trucks alternative locations or compensate them for their losses. >>> in the south bay, environmentalists made the pitch to ban polystylene which is used to make styrofoams. activists opened up a storm drain. a restaurant group claims that the change would be costly to small business. >>> >>> you have to take a look

tom vacar is live where a lot of flights are being cancelled. >> reporter: 60 flights are being cancelled as we speak. but tomorrow there will be many more cancelled. >> they actually cancelled me 24 hours in advance. so i was comfortable with that. not happy but comfortable. >> reporter: airlines no longer wait till the last hour or minute to cancel when big weather events occur. >> airlines don't want to go through that anymore. i think what we're seeing more is in anticipation of a weather event. proactive cancellation. >> then again if all of a sudden it was a false storm and there in new york we tend to get a number of those, i would probably be a little upset. >> reporter: the saliva's had flown in from korea to catch a flight to boston. >> united was great in rebooking us to a flight to washington which we're going to get on in an hour. then we have to figure out how we're going to get from washington to boston. >> reporter: washington to boston, trains are also idled by the storm. >> worse case scenario we'll rent a car. >> reporter: others will wait the storm out here. >> keep th

tom vacar is there now. >> reporter: i have with me oakland police spokesperson who can tell us whatened and when. >> earlier today about 12:30 there was a person who was a victim of gunshots down in the area of broadway and mcarthur. and thank you to the community we received multiple calls with suspect description and a vehicle associated to the shooting. that led officers immediately to the 6400 block of shaduk. we have our s.w.a.t. team, our hostage negotiation team and moments ago the alameda sheriffs department arrived with their k-9. we've evacuated other residents near the area of the identified residence that we are looking at. >> reporter: and you pulled some people out of there? do you expect others are in there? >> we have detained two people. earlier today. one was determined that they're not involved in the shooting that took place earlier. the other person investigators do believe is connected to the shooting. we're treating this as barricaded suspect or suspects armed and dangerous. we have not recovered a weapon from the earlier shooting. >> reporter: and the fact of

tom vacar is in the newsroom who can and cannot file right now. >> reporter: experts say don't blamers blame the gridlock indecisive congress shooting you all of us in the foot by delaying this year's tax season. the final tax law for last year wasn't even passed until early this year. certified public accountant leslie dawson says that forced the irs and tax preparers to play catch up with new forms and processing software. >> that's very difficult for the irs to change all their forms for all of our tax processing programs to get their updates in. >> reporter: the overwhelming majority of people can file their taxes now in fact it's been that way since january 30th. there was a delay but we've got our systems up and running. as of now e fileers can expect a refund within 3 weeks of feeling four weeks for those who mail them in. today all but 29 rarely used forms are ready to go. >> economic development credit those are not credits we run into every day. we very rarely run into them. >> those will be ready the first week in march the vast majority of those forms are filed by people